I. Field of the Present Invention
The present invention relates generally to a housing for enclosing the compressor and turbine rotors of the turbocharger, and more particularly to such a housing having removable end portions which provide free access to the components housed within the central portion of the turbocharger housing.
II. Description of the Prior Art
A turbocharger is a well known device for increasing the pressure with which the air is introduced into an engine. Typically, the turbocharger includes a shaft rotatably mounted in the housing. One end of the shaft includes a turbine rotor while the opposite end of the shaft includes a compressor rotor. As exhaust gases from the engine are discharged against the turbine rotor, the shaft rotates, which in turn rotates the compressor rotor to generate highly pressurized air which can be introduced to a carburetor, intake manifold or the cylinders of the engine. Unfortunately, inspection, repair and replacement of the components of the turbocharger housing can often be difficult and time consuming to accomplish.
Since the turbine section and the compressor section of a turbocharger are in fluid communication with the exhaust system and intake system respectively of the engine, it is important that the housing portions form enclosed fluid passageways for completing the exhaust and intake circuits. Moreover, since the need for access to the assembly of the components within the housing requires that the housing be made in two ore more parts, the parts must be sealed against each other to avoid leakage from the flow passageways. As a result, it has been known to use special connectors which tightly seal the housing parts to each other. However, such connectors must be specially fabricated and installed and thus tend to increase the cost of the turbocharger construction.
Moreover, if the turbocharger housing is made only in two pieces, for example, a housing having a single open end which is enclosed by an end housing portion, the turbine rotors and shaft must be completely removed for inspection of each of the components. Furthermore, although it has been known to provide an end housing portion on each end of a central housing portion which carries the turbine shaft, the previously known end housings are not well adapted for controlling the flow of gas passing therethrough. In particular, while such end housings have been designed for enclosing the corresponding rotor in a predetermined directional orientation with the flow passageways, such end plates have not been designed to introduce additional swirl components or other flow controls for optimum flow characteristics through the turbine housing.